Death toll hits 361....

Coronavirus: China says U.S. action ‘spreading fear’ as mainland death toll hits 361

Medical staff in Wuhan have complained that they lack everything from hospital beds to face masks.

By CISSY ZHOU, WENDY WU , ZHUANG PINGHUI and CATHERINE WONG

China has blamed the United States for spreading fears about the coronavirus, while also accusing Washington of doing nothing to help contain the outbreak.

The Chinese foreign ministry made the accusation on Monday, as the number of deaths in mainland China attributed to the coronavirus overtook the Sars epidemic of 2003.

Mainland health officials also called on people to pay extra attention to personal hygiene after traces of the coronavirus were found on surfaces, including a door handle.

Chinese health authorities announced 361 fatalities and 17,205 cases attributable to the rapidly spreading illness, as of Sunday, with 2,829 new cases and 57 deaths. That compares with 2,590 new cases and 45 deaths, nationwide, on Saturday.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a written statement that many countries appreciated China's efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, with the exception of the U.S.

“But in the meantime, some countries, the U.S. in particular, have inappropriately overreacted, which certainly runs counter to WHO advice,” she said.

“The U.S. government has not provided any substantial assistance to us, but it was the first to evacuate personnel from its consulate in Wuhan, the first to suggest partial withdrawal of its embassy staff, and the first to impose a travel ban on Chinese travelers. All it has done could only create and spread fear, which is a bad example.”

Hua said flu had caused 19 million cases of infection and at least 10,000 deaths in the U.S. from 2019 to 2020, while numbers were far lower for the coronavirus.

“The contrast is thought provoking. I also noted that the Canadian Minister of Health said Canada would not follow the U.S. and impose travel restrictions on Chinese or foreign nationals who have been to China,” Hua said.

“Canada believes the entry ban has no basis, which is a sharp contrast to the U.S. behavior,” she said.

Military takes over deliveries in Wuhan

Chinese troops based in Wuhan have taken control of the delivery of basic essentials to people living in the city, as the number of deaths in mainland China attributed to the coronavirus has overtaken the Sars epidemic of 2003.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that a backup logistics team, made up of troops based in Hubei, was established on Monday and had delivered 200 tonnes of supplies to supermarkets in Wuhan, using 50 military trucks. In total, the team includes 260 military officers, from the PLA’s land and air forces, and 130 trucks.

Residents across mainland China have rushed to stockpile daily necessities since the escalation of the outbreak. Medical staff in Wuhan have also complained that they lack everything from hospital beds to face masks.

The PLA has sent 1,400 military doctors and nurses to Wuhan, on the direct orders of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and has also taken over the operation of a temporary hospital which opened in the city on Monday. This is, however, the first time the PLA has taken over distribution of public supplies of general necessities.

Tian Yulong, a chief engineer from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said on Monday steps had already been taken to ensure quick transport of supplies.

Virus found on door handle

On Monday mainland health officials urged people to make personal hygiene a priority after traces of the virus were found on a door handle.

Zhang Zhoubin, deputy head of the Guangzhou infectious disease prevention center, said the city had collected 660 samples for testing.

“In our recent investigation, we found novel coronavirus on the handle of a door [at the patient's home]. This reminds me that we have to do well in keeping hygiene at home, and it is important to frequently wash our hands,” he said.

Zhang highlighted the risks of the coronavirus being present on items like mobile phones and light switches.

Chinese scientists have also found traces of the new coronavirus in the feces of some infected patients, possibly indicating an additional mode of transmitting the deadly disease.

Stock market plunge

Chinese stock markets slumped almost 9 percent on reopening on Monday amid the virus outbreak. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index opened the day down 8.73 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei stumbled 1.5 percent and South Korea’s KOSPI index was off 1.4 percent. Australia’s benchmark index was down 0.7 percent, while New Zealand shares fell 1.8 percent.

Taiwanese stranded in Wuhan to be evacuated
Some 200 people from Taiwan who have been stranded in Wuhan will take a charter flight out of the coronavirus-struck city today, according to a Taiwanese business association based there.

Wuhan's Taiwan Affairs Office has notified the association that a mainland carrier will take the Taiwanese home via a nonstop charter flight, with potentially two further charter flights available to send the remaining stranded Taiwanese back to the self-ruled island, according to the Taipei-based United Daily News and China Times.

There are currently some 500 Taiwanese in Wuhan.

But Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation said on Monday that it was still confirming with the relevant agencies when exactly these people would be back. The foundation, which represents the island's government in dealings with the mainland, said all necessary quarantine measures were ready for their return.

Taiwan's Centers for Diseases Control has said it has arranged three quarantine centers in northern, central and southern Taiwan for the returnees, who will have to remain isolated for 14 days to determine if any of them have been infected.

Also, from Monday, residents of Wenzhou ⁠— a port city in the eastern province of Zhejiang – will be barred from entering Taiwan. Returning Taiwanese or other travelers from Wenzhou, which is also in lockdown due to the virus, will be required to remain quarantined at home for 14 days, according to the center.

U.S. confirms 11th case

An 11th case of coronavirus has been confirmed in the U.S., with health officials in California announcing on Monday that three people in the state had been diagnosed.

A man who recently traveled to Wuhan apparently transmitted the infection to his wife on his return to San Benito county, while a woman in Santa Clara county, who recently arrived from Wuhan, is also in isolation. None of the latest people cases have been hospitalized.

More than 170 cases have been reported in more than two dozen other countries and regions, including the United States, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Britain.

A study by scientists from the University of Hong Kong published in The Lancet on Saturday said that as of Tuesday, as many as 75,815 people in Wuhan may have been infected with the new coronavirus. The research was based on the assumption that each infected person could have passed the virus on to 2.68 others.

Travel restrictions

Dozens of countries have restricted travel to China, and more than 20 airlines have suspended flights to and from the mainland, despite advice from the World Health Organization that such limits are not necessary to control the coronavirus.

Thailand said on Monday that all arriving Chinese tourists must provide medical certificates stating they were healthy and free of infection from the novel coronavirus.

Also on Monday, the Maldives banned travelers arriving from China as a precautionary measure to combat the spread of coronavirus, the tourism minister of the Indian Ocean islands said. More than 280,000 Chinese tourists visited the luxury holiday destination in 2019 — the largest number from any country — according to government data.

“Under the new measures being implemented, the government of Maldives will restrict entry … of any person who has left or transited through mainland China effective from February 3,” Tourism Minister Ali Waheed told a news conference.

“Exceptions will be made in the case of Maldivian citizens.”

Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and the US have all banned entry of non-citizens who have traveled to China within the past 14 days, while the Philippines — which reported the first death from the disease outside mainland China on Sunday — has widened its travel ban to all of China, including Hong Kong and Macau.

Malaysia has suspended all visa-on-arrivals for travellers from Hubei province. South Korea will temporarily ban foreigners who have visited Hubei within the past 14 days from Tuesday, and is suspending tourism to China. Japan has barred entry to people with symptoms of coronavirus and is urging its citizens not to travel to China.

Malaysia also sent an AirAsia plane to Wuhan on Monday to bring back 141 people and also deliver 500,000 pairs of gloves, the National Disaster Management Agency said.

In addition, a passenger train route from Hanoi to Guangxi and Beijing will soon cease operation to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to Vietnam Express.

Deputy Transport Minister Nguyen Ngoc Dong said Monday the Chinese government had approved Vietnam’s request to stop the international train service between the countries amid the fast-spreading, fatal epidemic.

Trains will only transport those who have booked tickets in advance for the next couple days, before halting operations.

The Czech Republic plans to suspend all flights to and from China, from Sunday.

The lag gives 100 Czechs in China a chance to return home.